Some users of the e-hailing service, Bolt have complained about the unpredictability of the service’s fares in Lagos since the removal of oil subsidy by the Federal Government.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu announced the withdrawal of oil subsidy during his inaugural speech, leading to over 200 percent hike in the pump price of petrol across the nation.
The ride-hailing companies including Bolt responded by increasing fares by between 25 and 30 percent to make the business worth the while for the drivers.
However, many Bolt customers spoken to by Microsecondnews are more worried about the unpredictability of the fares on the Bolt app now more than its upward adjustment.
One of them, Adesola David told Microsecondnews: “My biggest concern is that you can no longer safely predict how much you will end up paying for any trip, with or without traffic. That is really horrible for someone like me,” he said.
“Before now, when the app gave you an estimate of your fare, you could never pay above the upper limit except there was a serious traffic. Most of the times I paid the lower limit or something close to it. Never for once did I pay above the upper limit. But now, whatever the app tells you has no practical value, because you can actually end up paying up to N2000 over the upper limit of the estimates.”
He cited an example of taking a Bolt ride from the Mobolaji Johnson Train Terminal in Yaba to FESTAC a few days ago. He said before the fuel subsidy removal, he would typically pay between N2,500 and 3,500.
“The app gave me fare band of between N4,000 and N6000. I thought it was high, but I reasoned it was because of the subsidy removal thing. I hopped in and we drove to FESTAC. No single traffic anywhere. When I asked the driver for my fare, he told me N8000! I almost quarreled with him, but he showed me on his phone. I was not satisfied, I checked my own phone, it was displaying the same amount.”
David argued that the situation was not funny because it would have been embarrassing if he did not have additional money to add.
For another rider, Anthony Ajomata, the final fare he paid was more than twice the upper limit he was shown at the time of the booking.
He said: “I booked a ride at around 4am 30/06/2023 from Lekki gardens to 1 Isaac Johnson Street, Ikeja (IOM) and the rate I saw on the app was 8,600 to 10,200. On arrival, the final rate ended up at N25,900. A trip that was barely an hour and no traffic.”
Ajomata has escalated the matter to Bolt because he was convinced something sinister must have happened. Bolt has promised to review the trip if he could send his complaint through the app.
Yet another user of the service, Dimeji Alo, said he parted with N3000 more than the upper limit he was shown when he took a trip from the island to the mainland in Lagos recently.
A lady, with the Twitter handle @nobodycanbe_me also reach out to Bolt with a similar concern.
She wrote: “I think it’s time I address this issue in public, because I don’t understand the nonsense reply I’m getting. @Boltapp_ng @boltapp Kindly explain to me how a fare that was initially priced at 3,100 got to 6,000. Mind you, this is a 10mins journey without traffic.”
Bolt responded by saying that they use dynamic pricing, meaning that the price depends on several variables, among them the current demand.
“If demand is high, the price may be higher. The price may also depend on the route taken. For a specific breakdown of the price, please reach out to our in-app support” Bolt said in their response.
However, many of the users spoken to believe there is more to it than that.
Adesola David believes that the drivers have found a way to tamper with the rates following the extreme difficulties they now face to make ends meet after the subsidy removal.
“I honestly believe there is something they (drivers) are doing that we don’t yet know. Estimates in other jurisdictions are fairly reliable and guide you to take a decision to ride or not based on the funds available to you at that point in time. When they overshoot, it’s just by fractions,” said Adesola who is actually based outside Nigeria, but was in Nigeria for the burial of an elderly relative.
Some other Bolt users have also complained about some unwholesome practices by some drivers, such as starting a trip before they actually pick up the passenger, or indicating they have arrived at pick up zone when they have not so that they can make some extra money on waiting time.
A Bolt user, @Smasher_Lee1 recently took to twitter to expose one of such Bolt driver. She said the driver claimed to have arrived, yet he was nowhere in sight.
“The driver said he had arrived knowing fully well, that he was nowhere close to where I was….The guy kept me waiting for 24 mins, telling me there was traffic in airport road and I could see him stationary for Over 15 mins, meanwhile I used google maps to see if there was any traffic, There was none…Eventually, after exceeding the free wait time, and the app started counting down minutes for me, this guy pulled up,” the Bolt rider complained.
“Some drivers also pointedly ask you to add something to the stated fare, or tell you they would like to take the trip off the app, in which case you negotiate directly with the driver how much you would like to pay for his service,’ said another Bolt user who spoke to our correspondent.
Bolt in response to similar complaints on its social media handles, urge users to report such practices so they could take action.
Any driver reported as indulging in those acts are usually blocked from the app.
A massage sent to Bolt for an official reaction to the unpredictability of Bolt’s fares has not been responded to at the time of writing this report.
